freezer grow box design stage

So i gots this old stand up freezer, conveniently located in an underground cellar. its mostly likely going to be home to 1 or 2 plants.

I really like the idea of CFL's. cost, heat, space, enjoyment of doing the work.

I'm not 100% against HPS lighting but in this case the addition of lightcoooling and higher initial cost would almost stall the process totally.

Perhaps once things get going, i could be pressured into HPS lighting.

my area is rarely subjected to any buds worthy of a picture. So really any growth of any type of decent strain will do many people wonders.


I will be cooling/passing air through the freezer.
there will be the appropriate timers.
electrical wiring and cooling principals are somewhat elementary to my nature.
i will paint the sides at first with flat white, perhaps later super sides can come into play.



How much outside smell can i expect?

what am i missing?


should i ditch the whole cfl thing and just go with a HPS light kit from the start?

a freezer box eh?? i would think it would get pretty hot in there unless u have it ventalated good as hell than i would not go with a HPS stay with the CFL'S but thats juss IMO i dont think much outside smell but ur gunna need some vetalation going in and out soo expect some smell other wise yea sounds good i say go for it

a lotta heat could get trapped in. thats for sure, but at least no stray light will enter if i'm careful with the mods.

would you say about 15 CFL's on a raisable lighting platform?

by the way, i'm working with the following dimensions..

20"D x 24"W x 4'H

The surrounding air temp is never above 65 degrees.

Man i was just thinking of a freezer idea after getting out some pizzas ... the idea is really stealthy if you can somehow get ventilation by cutting 2 holes : 1 at the top to draw out hot air from your cfls and 1 at the bottom for cold air, also have some small fans to suck air in and blow air out .. i would use cfls tbh for thios grow if its your first but you wont get as much yeild as a hps .. and for the smell all you need is a carbon filter attached to the top hole and you should be good to go ... Good luck

ps . i know it has nothing to do with the grow question but noob marjuina grower .. your personal picture is fucking funny

Those are tight tight quarters but completely doable. You can make a "cluster" style overhead fixture of CFL's on a chain for easy height adjustment any maybe some tube fluoros on the walls. I would say 2 plants max in that box though. Ventilation/Cooling are the most important issues for you to address w/ that box, cfl's or fluoros are cheap and can easily be added.

so, perhaps a carbon filter is on the wish list. MOst def i would - 1 or 2 inlet and 1 larger (perhaps carbon filtered) outlet for cooling with proper fans. it is the first grow i will have ever accomplished which is mainly why i would opt for cfls', if its not what i thought, i just give the lights to my mom. nothing wasted but time, uhmm i mean enjoyment of those around the house activities.

would the tube fluoros be used during the budding times or just veggitation or both?

and from what i understand about CFL's is that they are different color outputs, and it does matter which type you use during which time? Or do i just make a mix match between the red and blue and keep them all in all the time, with the fluoros?

tubes on budding and vergetaive man

oh and you need a blue spectrum for vegetive ... cfls are really good for vegetive but your guna need a more balanced spectrum for budding

I recommend running several 23w CFL's. However many 42's you were planning on using, use twice that amount of 23's. The 23's cost less, have a better lumen to watt ratio, and put off considerably less heat than the 42's do.

Im using 8 26w's, 9 23w's, and ONE 42w. If you use all 42's, you might as well go with an HPS, because in an area as confined as yours, youll have just as much heat from the CFL's.

On the plus side, a freezer should already be set up for ventilation, and should be easy to modify for your purposes.

I recommend running several 23w CFL's. However many 42's you were planning on using, use twice that amount of 23's. The 23's cost less, have a better lumen to watt ratio, and put off considerably less heat than the 42's do.

Im using 8 26w's, 9 23w's, and ONE 42w. If you use all 42's, you might as well go with an HPS, because in an area as confined as yours, youll have just as much heat from the CFL's.

On the plus side, a freezer should already be set up for ventilation, and should be easy to modify for your purposes.

Great! that is a lot of help. Now its time to get to work. It may be some time before the whole thing pans out. surely this will resurface again, either with more questions or pictures of the process.

please continue to add any helpful information.

it sounds like i will be attempting two, possible three 42's and maybe 12 23's or the 12 23's divided into 23's and 26's. on a adjustable lighting platform, plenty of air flow from top to bottom and possible tubes on the side.

If you have 1 or 2 plants then with that amount of light and with good reflectivity they should well .

tommyfergie1 said:

ps . i know it has nothing to do with the grow question but noob marjuina grower .. your personal picture is fucking funny

Click to expand...

LOL thnx i been waitn for a while to someone comment on my avatar +rep for u lol do u know where that mask is from???

walkeasy said:

would the tube fluoros be used during the budding times or just veggitation or both?

and from what i understand about CFL's is that they are different color outputs, and it does matter which type you use during which time? Or do i just make a mix match between the red and blue and keep them all in all the time, with the fluoros?

Click to expand...

i dont know much bout fluro's but i do know cfl's yea ur right 3000k and lower for flowering and 6000k+ for veg when u buy the CFL'S juss look on the box or the ballast of the CFL to find the kelvin #, and i would say do a mix of the 2 unless ur willing to buy 15 6500k cfl's and 15 2700 than go ahead im not stopin u other wise yea mixe the 2 and some fluros on the side MIGHT and MIGHT not be a good idea because as ur plant get taller it gets wider to meaning that ur branches might touch the fluro causing burning i dunno but on the other hand the only part of the plant recieving most of the light wouldnt juss be the tope the side and foilage of the plant will be recieving good light as well BUT than again there mylar that is a 90% reflectant of light soooo there some ideas for ya

*EDIT* and 2 plants would be best for u 1 plant would be a waste and 3 i dont think ull be able to fit it in there so 4 sho go 2 plants

n00b_marijuana_grower said:

LOL thnx i been waitn for a while to someone comment on my avatar +rep for u lol do u know where that mask is from???



i dont know much bout fluro's but i do know cfl's yea ur right 3000k and lower for flowering and 6000k+ for veg when u buy the CFL'S juss look on the box or the ballast of the CFL to find the kelvin #, and i would say do a mix of the 2 unless ur willing to buy 15 6500k cfl's and 15 2700 than go ahead im not stopin u other wise yea mixe the 2 and some fluros on the side MIGHT and MIGHT not be a good idea because as ur plant get taller it gets wider to meaning that ur branches might touch the fluro causing burning i dunno but on the other hand the only part of the plant recieving most of the light wouldnt juss be the tope the side and foilage of the plant will be recieving good light as well BUT than again there mylar that is a 90% reflectant of light soooo there some ideas for ya

Click to expand...

I would get four very thin plastic sheets and put them infront of the walled fluros so when your plants get wider they can literally fill up the boxed contents and still not touch the side fluros resulting in much denser side buds

would the fluro melt the plastic??

Not if you got a high tempreture plastic .. At my BnQ i can pick up a 1meter squared sheet for £2.99

awwww eurosssss